After reading about the difficulties everyone was having with paying off the debt for the crusade it was clear that the barons were given false hope in having the rest of the money to be paid off for good. As Nicetas Choniates explains in the passage of The Sack of Constantinople, account of the sack, the Venetians had their minds set on Constantinople as their next plan of action. This they believed, would solve their problems by looting the town and destroying anything that had gotten in the way. In 1204, Constantinople was taken down by a bloody slaughter.
There was no place to hide and all around was crime. Innocent Christians were being murdered but, “no one was without a share in the grief. In the alleys, in the streets, in the temples, complaints, weeping, lamentations, grief, groaning of men, the shrieks of women, wounds, rape, captivity, separation of those most closely untied.”(Choniates). Having this war of rage caused so much grief. These events happened because of money and the greed that overcomes people. Also another great point, “Could those, who showed so great madness against God himself have spared the honorable matrons and maidens or the virgins consecrated to God?”(Choniates). The victors were to be blamed for the sack of the city and had joy in their hearts that they had gotten what they wanted. Learning from past mistakes can hopefully better the future. Money can drive people to unthinkable things. Constantinople sadly got mixed into the situation, putting many lives at stake. These lives were murdered by the trace of blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a sacrifice made by many and redemption. Works Cited Dana C. Munro, "The Fourth Crusade ",Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 3:1, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, [n.d.] 189?), 1-18 Nicetas Choniates:Alexii Ducae Imperium,ch. iii-iv, in Recueil des historiens des Croisades, hist. grec.,1, 397.Greek. Author: Emily Alt
There was no place to hide and all around was crime. Innocent Christians were being murdered but, “no one was without a share in the grief. In the alleys, in the streets, in the temples, complaints, weeping, lamentations, grief, groaning of men, the shrieks of women, wounds, rape, captivity, separation of those most closely untied.”(Choniates). Having this war of rage caused so much grief. These events happened because of money and the greed that overcomes people. Also another great point, “Could those, who showed so great madness against God himself have spared the honorable matrons and maidens or the virgins consecrated to God?”(Choniates). The victors were to be blamed for the sack of the city and had joy in their hearts that they had gotten what they wanted.
Learning from past mistakes can hopefully better the future. Money can drive people to unthinkable things. Constantinople sadly got mixed into the situation, putting many lives at stake. These lives were murdered by the trace of blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a sacrifice made by many and redemption.
Works Cited
Dana C. Munro, "The Fourth Crusade ", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 3:1, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, [n.d.] 189?), 1-18
Nicetas Choniates: Alexii Ducae Imperium, ch. iii-iv, in Recueil des historiens des Croisades, hist. grec., 1, 397. Greek.
Author:
Emily Alt